Ettersberg
'Ettersberg '''was the site of the Nazi archive that contained The Black Library during World War II. On January 19, 1945, the magical arm of the British Armed Forces along with the Virtuous Men commenced a raid (called 'Operation Spatchcock') on the archive. Captain Thomas Nightingale was present at this mission as was Hugh Oswald, and David Mellenby.Foxglove Summer The municipality of Ettersburg lies north of Ettersberg hill, which explains why their names are sometimes confused. Operation Spatchcock The strategic goal of the operation was to obtain Nazi German research material stored at the archival bunker near the town of Ettersburg and return it to Great Britain. Nazi practicioners generated the research material (later called the Black Library) from extremely unethical experimentation on fae and human prisoners. In general, members of the British wizarding community thought that obtaining the Black Library would rescue Great Britain's status as a superpower at the end of WWII. They were also concerned at the prospect of France, the United States, or the Soviet Union obtaining the library and using the results to their national advantage. Nightingale was against ''Operation Spatchcock from the start of strategizing due to the unethical nature of the material. Battle The operation took place deep in Germany, but apart from that few details are known.The Hanging Tree It appears a significant number of Allied Forces were left behind Nazi lines and subsequently found and killed. Hugh Oswald describes this obliquely as 'being cut off at the gap.' In January 1945, the Ettersburg area would have been approximately 200-250 miles behind the Western Front. Allied forces numbering over 2400 were transported behind enemy lines via military gliders. These gliders were also used to return the soldiers and Black Library to England. Captain Nightingale was tasked with covering the retreat of Allied forces from Ettersburg. During this retreat he gave up his seat on the return glider to David Mellenby. It appears Nightingale made his way back to the Allied lines on foot and was forced to take three days of shelter in the Kyll river with the Genius loci Kelly while being pursued by Nazi practicioners.The October Man For an unspecified reason, Hugh Oswald switched from using magic to a rifle at some time during the conflict.Moment One: Nightingale - London 1966 Operation outcome Although ultimately successful in obtaining the Black Library, the mission was and is considered a complete disaster. Operation Spatchcock directly resulted in the deaths of at least 2396 Ambrose House alumni, along with an unspecified number of British and other Allied wizards. Moon Over Soho Nightingale estimated that 3 out of 5 of every British wizard of military age (60%) died during the raid. Aftermath Many individuals who survived Operation Spatchcock were wounded physically and psychologically (e.g. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), which hindered their abilities as practitioners. Some, like Hugh Oswald, renounced formal Newtonian magic and the Folly to become 'rusticated'. David Mellenby committed suicide in his laboratory likely because of Ettersberg and his research connection with the Black Library. Ettersberg has had a large psychological effect on Nightingale as evidenced in Moment One and his dedication to carving the memorial wall at Ambrose House. The events at Ettersburg were largely responsible for the decline in classically trained British Wizards and the teaching of Newtonian magic for the remainder of the 20th century. Early in the 21st century Peter Grant would become the first officially sanctioned apprentice since 1945.Rivers of London Other In reality, the large Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald was established on Ettersberg hill on July, 1937 and designated KZ Ettersburg. Today the forest of Ettersberg is located just north of Weimar, with the memorial for the concentration camp in the middle.https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettersberg References Category:Locations